Okay,
You're listening to this because you've been triggered.
Something in you's been activated and a pattern of behaviour that you don't want to engage in has been activated.
Could be an addiction,
Could be a trigger for anger.
That you don't want to act out reactively from that place.
Just by coming onto this app,
Finding this recording,
You've done something powerful.
You've accessed that space between stimulus and response.
In between stimulus and response,
There's a space and that space lies our freedom.
There's freedom in this moment and you've chosen to listen to this because you don't want to act out reactively,
Addictively,
Aggressively,
Whatever it might be.
Hold that frame.
You've chosen to listen to this in this moment because you want to do something different.
You don't want to overeat,
You don't want to use drugs or drink,
You don't want to use porn,
You don't want to shout and scream or become aggressive.
Whatever the behaviour is,
There's a choice here,
An intention here to do something different.
You've accessed the space,
The pause.
You're already halfway there.
So let me help you to guide yourself through a process.
You've already stopped.
So let's sit.
If you can,
In a comfortable place now.
If you can't,
If you're still in a queue in the supermarket or you're out in the bar,
That's okay too.
But if you can sit or stand still,
That's great.
If you need to keep moving,
That's okay too.
And just observe.
Notice what's happening in you.
Check into your body.
Perhaps you can notice some tension,
Some heat.
Some excitement or anxiety,
Some butterflies.
Or maybe a heavy sense of dread in the pit of your stomach.
Maybe there's grief,
Rage,
Shame,
Heavy,
Difficult emotions.
These addictive,
Reactive behaviours are almost always ways of escaping from reality,
Escaping from what is right now.
And you're brave,
You're courageous to come here and listen to this,
To break that cycle,
To interrupt that process.
And face what's really happening in you now,
Whatever it is.
And it's that urge to react in old ways,
Ways that no longer serve you,
Ways that are out of alignment with who you are becoming.
And now let's come out of that and come into the breath.
We're going to take some deep,
Conscious,
Triangle breaths together.
And by triangle breaths,
All I mean is that we're going to breathe in for the count of four or five.
Hold for the count of four or five.
And slowly breathe out for the count of four or five.
Keep breathing like that.
Breathe in.
Hold.
Breathe out.
Focus your intention,
Your attention on the breath.
On these big,
Grounding breaths.
Extend the count now if you can to six.
Hold.
Out.
I want you to continue with these breaths,
But to extend the out breath now even further.
So counting in maybe for the count of five or six.
Hold for five or six.
And then very slowly breathing out with a count of eight.
Continue with this pattern of breathing.
Slowing and focusing on mine now,
Particularly on the out breath.
And with that out breath really feeling that sense of letting go,
Of release.
And with each out breath with that release,
See at the same time if you can consciously drop your shoulders.
With this next out breath,
See if you can consciously soften your belly.
If your mind retreats back into addictive,
Reactive thinking,
Into those familiar stories,
We justify to ourselves going down that same old path.
As soon as you notice you've gone there,
Don't feed it.
Let go and come back.
Come back to this breath,
To this moment.
Your brain is just trying to take you down what's a very familiar,
Practiced,
Rehearsed path.
When you feel this thing,
When you feel this trigger.
Your brain wants to take you down that familiar pattern,
That familiar process.
It's habituated and conditioned.
But we're not robots.
We have a choice.
And with mindful awareness in this space now,
We can choose to do something different.
We can choose to honour who we are becoming.
So take three more of these big,
Deep,
Triangle breaths with an emphasis on the out breath,
An emphasis on that release,
That letting go.
Softening,
Dissolving tension.
At the same time centring,
Grounding.
And now checking back in,
Expanding our awareness,
Evaluating where we are now.
Checking in with the body.
Have those feelings changed,
Those sensations?
Have they moved or evolved or transmuted into something else?
Has how intense or solid they feel changed any at all?
Notice what is there and consciously soften any tension.
Breathe in to breathe with any emotion that's there.
Fear,
Sadness,
Grief,
Anger.
Allow it to be there.
Feelings aren't the enemy.
They contain information.
They're messengers to unmet needs within us.
We don't need to escape from them.
We don't need to run away from them into their comfort and numbing.
Those addictive or reactive behaviors.
In this moment we can make powerful,
Positive,
Life changing choices.
We can break the cycle,
Interrupt the pattern.
You have that power now.
You have that choice now.
Breathe with those feelings.
And see if you can identify what do I really need in this moment?
Do you need human connection?
Do you need to share these feelings with another human being to know that somebody's got your back?
Somebody hears you,
Sees you,
Understands you.
If that's the case,
As soon as this meditation ends,
Reach out.
Don't let pride or ego get in the way.
Reach out to a friend,
A family member.
A therapist,
Go to a meeting,
Whatever it is you need to do to get that connection.
Maybe you need to move your body.
Maybe there's some energy,
Some emotion that needs to be physically worked through.
Do you need to walk,
Run,
Hit a paddock,
Lift weights?
What do you need to do?
Do you feel a call of nature?
Do you need to be soothed by being amongst trees?
Feel the earth beneath your feet.
Do you need to journal,
To meditate?
Tune in with the unmet needs beneath the feelings and honour yourself.
Every time we trigger,
That brain wants to take us down that old familiar pathway.
If we can access that space,
That mindful awareness,
We can make those powerful,
Positive,
Life-changing choices to do something different.
Overeating,
Drinking,
Using drugs,
Using porn,
Gambling,
Acting out aggressively.
None of these things are going to heal us.
None of these things are going to meet the underlying unmet needs.
And if we choose to do something different now,
We begin to build,
Or continue to build,
A new path.
Those old patterns weaken and our new patterns strengthen as we move closer to becoming who we are in integrity with,
Who we are growing into.
And you're doing that now.
You've done that by listening to this,
Coming to this app,
Finding this pressing play and sitting or walking or standing through it.
You've done it.
You've got this.
Whatever it is you need to do,
Go and do it now.
Connection,
Movement,
Nature,
Writing,
Journaling,
Self-care.
And take care of yourself and build that new path.
